Performance Funding 2025

Posted: 16 October, 2025

Minister Lawless announces €5 million in funding to support and recognise exemplary performance by higher education institutions.

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless, T.D., has announced today the allocation of performance funding awards totalling €5 million to five higher education institutions. Dublin City University, Maynooth University, Trinity College Dublin, University College Cork, and University College Dublin are each being awarded €1 million in recognition of their exemplary performance in working towards the achievement of national strategy and policy priorities.

Minister Lawless, commenting on today’s awards, stated: “I would like to congratulate the successful institutions on their awards. The initiatives recognised today are impressively wide ranging — they rethink inclusive digital education, tackle disadvantage through equitable access to work experience, foster entrepreneurship and support start-ups, promote the Sustainable Development Goals, inspire and train future engineers and scientists, and take Ireland into the space age. Together they demonstrate the significant and valuable impact that our higher education and research system has on all aspects of our economy, environment and society.”

The performance funding is awarded on the basis of an evaluation of Impact Assessment Case Studies submitted by higher education institutions (HEIs) to the Higher Education Authority (HEA) in March 2025.

HEIs were invited to submit a case study describing an initiative that has made a significant contribution to the achievement of national strategy and providing an assessment of its impact. The submissions were evaluated by an independent expert panel.

Dr Alan Wall, CEO of the HEA, commented: “These awards continue to highlight the valuable and diverse ways in which higher education institutions are responding to national priorities, global challenges, and community needs, and this year’s successful case studies exemplify the sector’s transformative role in our society. Of particular note is the strength of partnerships and collaborations between these institutions and communities, organisations and networks throughout Ireland and beyond. The learning emerging from this process is of considerable value and will inform future work across the sector. The HEA is delighted to support this work and to continue promoting the sharing of effective approaches across the system.”

Among the successful case studies is Dublin City University’s Access to the Workplace, describing a collaborative initiative with LinkedIn and Rethink Ireland that breaks down structural barriers to employment opportunities faced by students from underrepresented and disadvantaged backgrounds by providing them with professional, paid work experience.

Maynooth University collaborated with strategic partners to develop its 5*S project, which is improving the geospatial and sustainability literacy of teachers and students through a range of training and resources linking satellite data to real-world challenges aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Trinity College Dublin engaged a Citizen Advisory Panel and collaborated with NGOs, ETBs, and employers to co-create the DigiAcademy programme. This intervention employs a ‘train-the-trainer’ model to significantly increase digital literacy, work readiness and social inclusion of people who have an intellectual disability – the most digitally disenfranchised community in Irish society.

University College Cork partnered with the Cork City Council, the Local Enterprise Offices, and Bank of Ireland to develop IGNITE, a start-up incubation programme that has generated significant economic and social value by promoting entrepreneurial skills amongst graduates and supporting the next generation of business owners across Ireland.

University College Dublin collaborated with the European Space Agency (ESA) to launch Ireland’s first ever space mission, Eirsat-1. While advancing the development of an Irish space sector, this ground-breaking project also inspired public engagement with space science through education and the arts.

Performance Funding was first introduced under the 2018–2020 System Performance Framework to support and recognise positive performance in Ireland’s higher education and research system. Since then, more than €30m has been awarded to recognise exemplary performance in the higher education system, supporting over 50 projects aligned with national strategic objectives.

Further information on successful case studies are published on the ‘Institutional Stories of Impact’ page on the HEA’s website.

Table 1. Performance Funding Awards 2025

Notes to Editors

The System Performance Framework 2023–2028 sets out parameters under which designated institutions of higher education identify their contribution to the achievement of national strategy, as appropriate to their mission, scale, location, and strategic plan.

HEIs’ annual reporting requirements under the System Performance Framework 2023–2028 include the submission of an Impact Assessment Case Study (IACS). Impact Assessment Case Studies (IACS) are linked to a positive funding mechanism that supports and recognises excellent performance within the higher education and research system.

Performance Funding was introduced in 2019 and since then more than €30 million in Performance Funding has been awarded to HEIs. Impacts and learnings from successful case studies are highlighted in ‘Institutional Stories of Impact’ on the HEA website.

Under the System Performance Framework 2023–2028, a revised IACS process continues to provide institutions with an opportunity to demonstrate their significant contributions towards the achievement of national strategy by describing the design, delivery, and outcomes of an exemplary initiative and providing an assessment of its impact.

The purpose of IACS is to:

• Demonstrate the impact of the higher education and research system on society, the environment, and the economy at local, national, and international levels.
• Showcase exemplary HEI initiatives that have contributed to the achievement of national strategy.
• Enhance dissemination of good practice and learning across the system.
• Gather evidence to inform public policymaking and to identify areas for potential further development and investment in the system.
• Inform the allocation of annual performance funding.

Performance Funding can be used to expand and progress existing initiatives or put towards new initiatives that contribute towards national strategic objectives. Project plans and budgets are agreed with the HEA to support progress monitoring and evaluation of outcomes over the lifetime of funded projects.

Queries can be directed to systemperformance@hea.ie.